Journalists relieved, wary amid Kenyan elections

Journalists could be seen rushing from
polling station to polling station Monday to see long queues of determined
Kenyan voters in what was apparently a largely peaceful election, according to
the Deputy Director of Kenya's statutory media council, Victor Bwire. But
leading up to the vote, many journalists worked in a climate of fear; and many
of them say they are still wary that, once results are in, they will face
attacks and other challenges such as they experienced in the aftermath of the
last presidential election in 2007.

"Remember, the violence came afterwards,
during the election results, not the actual polling," Bwire told me. After the
2007 vote, violence amid disputed results and reports of vote-rigging killed
more than 1,200 people and displaced approximately 600,000. Over 200 Kenyan
journalists were affected, with many forced to flee their work due to fear of attack,
according to the media council.

Today, with just under half the votes counted,
Kenyans could only wait. Results are expected Wednesday following high voter
turnout for the range of posts, including parliament members, senators, county
governors, and members of 47 newly formed country assemblies. Many people fear
that a run-off between presidential candidates could prolong the possibility of
tension and violence.

Meanwhile, the media council has been
mapping cases of threat or attack on an online platform, Media Freedom 254. "It was something that I have been thinking
about since 2009 when one of our reporters, Francis
Nyaruri was killed," the council's safety and protection for journalists
coordinator, Ephraim Muchemi, told me. So far this year the site has reported
14 cases, most of which involved suspicions by authorities or voters that
journalists harboured a political agenda of their own.

On Saturday, paramilitary police attacked a
correspondent for the daily Starin Homa Bay Town, western Kenya, and confiscated his camera.
Correspondent Habil Onyango was trying to take pictures of a dispute between
supporters of two rival candidates, he told me. The paramilitary police, known
as the General
Service Unit (GSU), were called in to quell the violence. "But instead they
started beating up innocent people and they did not like me taking their photo,"
according to Onyango and local reports. Supporters of one of the politicians
accused Onyango and his colleagues of taking sides and said they were "marked
men." Onyango said, "Now my colleagues are afraid to cover the elections and
none have confidence that the police will protect them. A police spokesman told
The
People that he would investigate.

Another Star
reporter, Kirimi Miruthi, had to relocate after he reported that two
election aspirants in Meru, central Kenya, had bribed teachers with 700,000
Kenyan Shillings (US$8,400) to support their campaign. Anonymous text messages
and threatening phone calls from the supporters of one of the political
aspirants, Kiraitu Murungi, ensued soon after the report was released. Even worse, Murungi announced in a memo the following
day that he would suspend
journalists from covering his activities, according to local reports. Star Chief Editor Catherine Gicheru said
she would ignore the directive. "He cannot chase people out of a public
function--as long as he is in a public place we will cover him," she told me.

Foreign correspondents, although none have
reported being directly threatened, have also been accused of harboring hidden
agendas. As early as December, government spokesman Muthui Kariuki accused
foreign media in a statement of "malicious perspectives" that are "fake,
revisionist and malevolent on top of being reckless," without providing further
details. In a press conference with the Foreign
Correspondents Association of East Africa, the spokesman accusedjournalists of inciting "fires" during
the post-election violence of 2007-08 and that "we will set you on fire before
you set us on fire". Kariuki told me afterwards that his words were
misrepresented and that he meant that if the press incites problems "we will
all burn together."

On Sunday, government officials met with
CNN representatives after claiming a CNN story on a militia in Eldoret was
fabricated, producer Lilliam Leposa told me. Kariuki told local media that he
had a "friendly meeting" with the anchor, Nima Elbagir, but
"hiding under the cloak of source confidentiality, she didn't tell me where
those militias are training." Kenya's active Internet users also condemned the
report. "Loving how Kenyan people are standing up against sensational journalism
and false reports about Africa" one person tweeted using the popular hashtag #SomeoneTellCNN. "We wanted to reflect
the reality that many [human rights] organizations have been concerned about,"
Elbagir tweeted in her defense. "People are scared and this is how some are
dealing with that fear. I understand though that this was a difficult watch."
So far, while people have tweeted their outrage over CNN's "hidden agendas" and
"lies," no one has as yet pointed out factual errors in the report.

Another touchy area has been the Kenyan government's efforts to
quell hate speech prior to the elections. Kenya's National Steering Committee
on Media Monitoring has been working around the clock to ensure both
broadcasters and social media refrain from inciting violence, particularly with
ethnically sensitive commentary. Their efforts are necessary. A recent report
by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said there were "widespread
use of social media, especially Facebook, to spew out hatred on the basis of
ethnicity and political affiliation." But William Oloo Janak, head of the Kenya Correspondent's Association, is wary of
the possibility of the ban on hate speech turning into censorship. "What they
define as hate speech is vague, often a term just to sweep sensitive
information under the carpet," he said. Robert Kunga, the chief operating
officer of the Bloggers Association of Kenya,
told me that bloggers have had "a lot less content come out on the elections
for fear of being targeted as hate speech."

In one example, Makua Mutua, dean at SUNY Buffalo Law School and Daily Nation columnist, expressed in a January
5 opinion piece his fears that losing Kenyan election candidates may not concede
defeat. The Kenyan government was quick to label the piece "unpatriotic" and
"garbage" without actually disputing Mutua's views, according to a retort
in the daily. "I don't deny that there's hate speech, and that it's extremely
dangerous in an ethnically polarized society like Kenya. Hate speakers,
including virulent bloggers, must be tracked down and prosecuted," Mutua wrote.
"[But] nor should anti-hate speech campaigns be used to silence opponents--or
proponents--of certain politicians or political groups."

On the whole, though, most journalists concur that the media and
authorities alike have handled this election far better than that of 2007. Back in 2008, Editor's Guild Chairman
Macharia Gaitho told me back that the media essentially "failed" the public
when political stability collapsed. But this failure was partly due to the
violent tactics used by authorities. Former KTN cameraman Clifford Derrick had to flee
the country after attempting to cover vote-rigging and remains in exile. "I
will not be coming home for this election because it reminds me of what I went
through five years ago," he told me via email. "In fact I feel the sensation of
the torture I endured in the hands of security forces whenever I read of
journalists beaten up by the same people in Kenya."

So far--due in part to efforts by the government and civil society to
maintain peace--it appears the tragedies of 2007-08 will not be repeated. The
new constitution has also played a role in stability, since it reconfigures
political power in Kenya to limit excessive executive control.

If violence against the press does occur, however, CPJ is partnering
up with the Media Council and Rory Peck
Trust to support a journalist
hotline in case of emergency in the days ahead. Let us hope the phone lines
remain silent.

Tom Rhodes is CPJ's East Africa representative, based in Nairobi. Rhodes is a founder of southern Sudan’s first independent newspaper. Follow him on Twitter: @africamedia_CPJ

Comments

In regards to Nima Elbagir's story, what exactly do you mean when you say that no one has pointed out factual errors in the report? Have you seen the video? If I claim to know of terrorists, interview four mad men and then claim that terrorists are ready to attack, what facts would you disprove? She gives one side to a story; doesn't ask questions relevant to the claims she's making, then hides behind source confidentiality. She didn't say that four militia members were armed and ready to vote; she painted the whole country with a wide brush. Yes, there are legitimate concerns that need to be covered by the media, both local and international; but interviewing four disturbed men(people who's identities you conceal and who's backgrounds you don't mention), then doing a report titled "Kenyans armed and ready to vote" can hardly be called news coverage. She basically gave four disgruntled men a world stage. Take note, it was FOUR people wielding crude weapons and rolling around. She didn't ask them anything that didn't fit into the sensational narrative that she was peddling. Please take a look at her video and give your view as a journalist. If you were an editor and a new reporter brought that to you, would you air it?

Totally no comparison between Syria and Kenya, I am not surprised that the US have gone far to declare their support to the rebels in Syria and truly doubt their legitimacy in championing global democratic rights. Another clear case is attacking Iraq and Libya with no reason in interfering in other states. One of the key factors of the UN command is Non-interference in internal member states affairs and adherence to the IHL (International Humanitarian Law). USA is itself in denial to join ICC because of the atrocities committed in their global responsibilities. Without much success in the modern day, they have continued to be weakened, and soon they will fall short of international support. Kenya is not a threat to Journalism, in fact it is one country where they enjoy the freedom and I am proud of that which has come of age. Give us a break from misinforming the world leaders, I am equally disappointed for the words coming from US leader - Obama equating Kenya and Syria, really?? They have their own problems that we don't talk about, killing each other too, organized gangs in NY, name them.